Writer’s Notebook: Carlson touched the lives of North Coast performers

Published 12:30 am Thursday, March 18, 2021

David Carlson — who played the soundtrack of the North Coast theater world for over a decade — died on the night of March 4 after a long bout with cancer. He was 82.

When the Liberty Theatre inaugurated its Steinway Model D concert grand piano on Jan. 5, 2008, Carlson was one of the performers. He surprised the audience by playing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” which had premiered in the same year the Liberty opened its doors. After Carlson brought the jazz classic to a close, the astonished audience jumped to its feet.

Carlson loved the Liberty’s Steinway. “They have such power that they can hold their own with an orchestra,” he said. “It is one of the greatest instruments, hands down. It’s in a class by itself.”

Many elements of Carlson’s adventurous life were short-story material. He left his Portland home at the age of 16 to play in Los Angeles cocktail lounges. “I was pushed out before my time,” he told me in a 2011 interview.

He lived in New York, Miami, Dallas, Tucson and other cities. He played on cruise ships in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. “I have enjoyed extensive travel, and the music did it for me,” he said.

One of his darkest and most entertaining stories was of leading a jazz ensemble on New Year’s Eve in a New York City club that was owned by the mob. As he desperately attempted to cope with subpar musicians and an especially incompetent drummer, a mob underling expressed his displeasure. The abiding memory of that gig caused David and his wife, Kay, never to go out on New Year’s Eve.

Before moving to Albuquerque, where he died, Carlson and Kay lived in Gearhart. During those years, he touched many lives in the theater community. He accompanied musicals at the Coaster Theatre in Cannon Beach. He was a rehearsal pianist for operas produced by the Astoria Music Festival. In those years, he practiced four hours a day on his Steinway Model O, built in 1924. During his last years, Carlson devoted himself to studying the piano scores of Johann Sebastian Bach.

If you live on the North Coast for more than a decade, you will discover exceptional talents in all lines of work. Carlson was one of the most accomplished, generous and sweet individuals my wife and I had the good fortune to know.